Gymnast Louis Smith stormed to the top of the Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard as an evening of spooky routines dominated the dancefloor.

The London 2012 medallist achieved this series' highest score during the Halloween-themed show as judge Bruno Tonioli described his routine as "the first killer tango of the season".

Smith and partner Flavia Cacace were awarded a top score of 35 points after playing a pair of zombies dancing to Rihanna's hit Disturbia. Darcey Bussell said the Olympic star was "spookily good" and performed "the best tango of the night", while Len Goodman said he wanted to turn the clocks back early to watch the gymnast dance again.

The show also saw a dramatic turnaround for cricketer Michael Vaughan, who finished second on the leaderboard after nearly facing the boot last week. The former England captain, who survived the dance off last Sunday against model Jerry Hall, dressed as a magician for his quick step routine to That Old Black Magic.

Craig Revel Horwood applauded the ex-sportsman following his performance, while Tonioli said: "That was more than magical, it was a miracle."

After celebrating his 31 point score with dance partner Natalie Lowe, Vaughan said: "We've worked really hard for all the weeks but this week we've lived on the dance floor." The dancing duo finished second on the leaderboard along with Olympic cyclist Victoria Pendleton and Girls Aloud star Kimberley Walsh.

But there was not such good news for actor Sid Owen as he was left languishing at the bottom of the leaderboard following his Ghostbusters routine. His dance partner Ola Jordan only returned to rehearsals on Friday after taking a break and heading back to her native Poland to visit her mother, who has suffered a heart attack.

Denise Van Outen was unable to continue her table-topping success of the last two weeks following her dance to Rick James's song Super Freak with partner James Jordan. The TV presenter and actress scored 28 points from the judges and admitted to suffering with nerves before her routine.

Pendleton played a corpse bride for her performance - just months before she is due to tie the knot herself. The Olympic gold medallist dressed as a glamorous, goth-like character as she and Brendan Cole danced a tango to Billy Idol's White Wedding. Olympic golden girl Pendleton is planning her own wedding to fiance Scott Gardner next summer.

Singer Walsh dressed as Little Red Riding Hood for her routine to Duran Duran's Hungry Like A Wolf with partner Pasha Kovalev. Revel Horwood described Walsh's dance as "fiery, punchy" with "fantastic shaping".